9. Blocking Someone in the 90’s
If you wanted to block someone, the 90s were unquestionably a simpler period when navigating menus and figuring out complex settings was not necessary. All it needed was a flick of the wrist—a basic, perfect approach. Although it wasn’t quite covert, moving the phone from the receiver was clearly a surefire technique with a quite certain but pleasing finality.
Oh, those bygone eras of phone blocking. Back in the 1990s, lifting the receiver off the hook might let you avoid engaging in conversation with someone. This little deed made a strong statement, a physical expression of your need for quiet or seclusion. Recall the fulfilling “clunk” when you raised the receiver, knowing that for the next few hours you were unreachable? That was the best ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign available. This approach has its disadvantages, of course. Nobody trying to get in touch you would be met with an infinite busy signal; you couldn’t get any calls, even vital ones. It was a nuclear alternative needing serious thought. Not to mention the terror you experienced when you discovered you had left the phone off the hook for hours, therefore perhaps missing important calls. This kind of “blocking” also produced some original problem-solving. Must block others and then make a call? Now enter the delicate art of rapidly swapping out the receiver to obtain a dial tone without fully reconnecting. Although contemporary blocking techniques give more freedom and choice, there was something definitely fulfilling about the simplicity and finality of physically separating yourself from the world.
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